This invention relates generally to shock absorbing equipment and more specifically relates to shock absorbing athletic wear for providing increased protection to selected body areas of the wearer.
Athletic equipment, such as, for example, shoulder pads, rib protectors, hip pads, and thigh pads, are commonly worn by participants in many types of sports to protect the wearer from shock resulting from contact with an object or with another participant. Such equipment has long been known and used by athletes in contact sports such as football, hockey, etc., but is also of benefit to participants in other sports such as baseball, moto-cross, equestrian events, and so forth.
One type of known prior art athletic equipment includes a relatively hard outer shell of a material such as plastic, leather, vulcanized fiber, or the like, and an inner layer of soft padding material. The hard outer layer is adapted to receive the applied force or shock and to spread the force over a large area where the force is absorbed and cushioned by the soft padding material, thereby protecting the wearer from the shock of impact. Padding materials commonly known with these prior art designs include cotton padding, foam rubber, foamed plastic material, sponge rubber, expanded rubber, or vinyl, for example. Such designs rely upon the resilience of the padding material to absorb a portion of the applied force.
In my prior filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 478,681, filed Mar. 25, 1982, I disclosed a protective apparatus wherein an open-celled foam element is covered with a fabric. This fabric covering is generally impermeable to air, but has a plurality of air permeable regions selectively distributed therein. The air permeable regions provide continuous fluid communication between the foam portion inside the fabric covering and the atmosphere outside. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, a shield structure is provided to distribute an impacting force across an area of the fabric covered foam. Upon application of a force to the fabric covered foam, a portion of the volume of air contained with the cell structure of the foam is selectively transferred through the air permeable regions of the fabric covering to the outside of the covering. The controlled air transfer of this invention has great applicability in reducing the shock transmitted to the wearer of such equipment. However, in many applications it may be preferable to provide exceptional protection to specific injury prone areas of the body. This exceptional protection must be provided without unduly restricting the wearer's freedom and speed of movement and without significantly affecting his comfort.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a method and apparatus whereby general shock absorbing protection may be provided to an individual's body and whereby exceptional shock absorbing protection may be provided at selected points of such individual's body while facilitating optimal comfort and freedom of movement to the individual.